MEXICO CITY — Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV in late October acquired Kitty Industries Pvt. Ltd. (Kitty Bread), the No. 2 bread manufacturer in northern India. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1977 in Punjab, India, Kitty Bread bakes white, brown, whole wheat and fruit bread. The company also bakes buns, eggless biscuits, eggless cakes, bar cakes and muffins, bread crumbs and coatings, pizza base and traditional sweets in different sizes and packaging.
Kitty Bread’s products are distributed in the Indian states of Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Western UP, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir through a chain of approximately 1,750 distributors. The company has its own fleet of 200 delivery vehicles.
“This acquisition complements our current product portfolio, and it enhances our presence in India, and our long-term commitment toward the country,” Daniel Servitje, chairman and chief executive officer, said during an Oct. 28 conference call announcing the acquisition.
The acquisition of Kitty Bread comes about eight months after Grupo Bimbo acquired Modern Food Enterprises Private Ltd. from Everstone Capital. A pioneer in India’s baking industry, Modern Foods was established by the government of India in 1965 as Modern Bakeries and was rebranded as Modern Foods in 1982. Over the years, Modern has become one of India’s most recognized brands with a full range of white, sweet, and health and wellness bread varieties, as well as value-added bakery products such as rusks, cakes, muffins, buns, pavs and cream rolls.
Modern Food’s bread and bakery products are manufactured and marketed nationally through a network of seven manufacturing plants and more than 80,000 outlets.